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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Mathematical Thinking in Computer Science by University of California San Diego

4.4
stars
2,201 ratings

About the Course

Mathematical thinking is crucial in all areas of computer science: algorithms, bioinformatics, computer graphics, data science, machine learning, etc. In this course, we will learn the most important tools used in discrete mathematics: induction, recursion, logic, invariants, examples, optimality. We will use these tools to answer typical programming questions like: How can we be certain a solution exists? Am I sure my program computes the optimal answer? Do each of these objects meet the given requirements? In the online course, we use a try-this-before-we-explain-everything approach: you will be solving many interactive (and mobile friendly) puzzles that were carefully designed to allow you to invent many of the important ideas and concepts yourself. Prerequisites: 1. We assume only basic math (e.g., we expect you to know what is a square or how to add fractions), common sense and curiosity. 2. Basic programming knowledge is necessary as some quizzes require programming in Python....

Top reviews

AD

Mar 25, 2019

The teachers are informative and good. They explain the topic in a way that we can easily understand. The slides provide all the information that is needed. The external tools are fun and informative.

AM

Feb 27, 2021

It is a great course! teachers explain everything with care. While providing lectures there are some popup ques that verify whether you understood that lecture or not. Overall, a great experience.

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51 - 75 of 505 Reviews for Mathematical Thinking in Computer Science

By Singhi K

Jan 2, 2018

Enjoyable and interesting...also easy to follow for people like me who have been out of college long time back.

By Ernest D

Jan 5, 2019

this is a very nice course ,its has broaden my whole knowledge about maths

thanks to the creator of this course

By Ethio T

Oct 12, 2019

The course is very good at equipping the basic math concepts for computer science. I highly recommend it!

By Swarnava S

Jun 13, 2019

Awesome course for beginners. It helped me alot to understand the logic and how to solve problems.

By Константин К

Nov 22, 2017

Quite chaotic and disarranged course (in both complexity and structure) although contains interesting topics. Possibly because of its introductory goal.

By Prabal M

Jul 2, 2020

The last two week lectures were very confusing.

By Carlos V

Feb 15, 2020

I believe that the content of this course is both important and interesting. However, the learning methods used are awful. To begin with, while going through the interactive puzzles I felt that I was not learning anything related to the core lesson at hand. Moreover, the exercises feel like disconnected trivia unrelated to the theoretical explanations. I think the course should be heavily revamped in order to present a proper and useful corpus of knowledge.

By Anand R

Jul 27, 2020

The team presented the concepts in a fun and easy ways to learn. They usually start off with a puzzle exercise so that we are better prepared to understand the concepts in the subsequent lessons. Some of the lessons need intermediate mathematics and programming experience. The instructors are also very responsive in the discussions forums. Whatever the shortcomings, they are not significant. For e.g., sometimes it was difficult to understand their accent but this can be overcome by using closed captions. There were some technical difficulties with tools that the instructors remedied pretty quickly. Overall, an excellent course on the subject. Thank you.

By Alvaro A

Jul 9, 2021

After so many digging, I can only say this is the best introductory course for mathematical thinking, Its amazingly creative and I recommend following the book along with the course. The teachers present the material in a really fun and engaging way. This is definetly how a mooc should be made.

By Jacob K

Jan 9, 2021

I personally have very limited coding skills. this course was able to build my funadmentals in both math and science while understanding more of the bridge between the two. Very thankful for it.

By Yonas A

May 24, 2020

I have come to know how mathematical proof is fun thing to do, this course transformed me, i highly recommend it to every one. I would like to thank every one involved in providing this course.

By Mohamed A H

Jun 26, 2020

This course will improve your problem solving skills and gives you a rigorous explanation in how to counter various mathematical problems in the real life. You will think like a mathematician.

By Sanjay A

Sep 17, 2017

I was waiting for such a great course on discrete Mathematics in coursera.

Thank you UC San Diego

By Dmytro N

Oct 5, 2017

I like the course. Still some mistakes and bugs, but course is really interesting to pass. Thanks

By PLN R

Jul 9, 2019

An amazing course really!! The interactive fun assignments make it all the more interesting!! :D

By Eddy P

Sep 22, 2018

There are many very interesting cases in this course! I will definitely recommend it to others!

By Andrew M

Oct 26, 2017

A great introductory course and well organized. You can feel that professor loves mathematics.

By Radmilo M

Apr 6, 2020

The course is perfect for those which want to learn math on deeper level in computer science.

By Rafael D d L

Aug 2, 2018

Great introduction to mathematical thinking and how to apply it to computational problems.

By Kumar A

Jan 24, 2020

This was the one-stop that I'll never regret learning things again in a different manner.

By Vishnu M

Sep 7, 2019

Puzzles are great. Seems Instructors put lots of efforts into it. Different approach !

By Devang K

Jun 4, 2020

Awesome and Interactive!

By Jesse W

May 2, 2019

This course mostly consists of a set of loosely related under the umbrella of discrete mathematics. A lot of the exercises take the form of puzzles where you either have to solve the puzzle or determine whether a solution is impossible. The puzzles are fun and make for good brain exercise; however, I'm not sure if all of this has made me a better programmer. It's worth noting that most Computer Science degrees will require some form of discrete math coursework, so if you're considering CS and are worried about the math requirements, this Specialization would be good to try out.

By Anton M

Apr 4, 2019

Great course with variety of different mathematical puzzles.

Two things can be improved:

1) It's not always obvious which global subject is discussed during the week and what is a connection with puzzles, some kind of review video at start of each week will be helpful.

2) Sometimes explanations not clear at all. I did watched some videos 2-3 times before completely understand what is going on. It will be great to have a rigours proof of theorems as supplementary reading material.

By Mike P

Jan 31, 2019

I liked the course, and I enjoyed the math for sure. BUT, I think there were some sections that could have been explained more thoroughly and perhaps some videos that could have been shot again to be more clear. But whatever, I am very grateful to be able to learn this here :)